The lottery investment goes into facilities - which are used by everyone in the long run, not just elite athletes - and high quality coaching. It's pretty much what the lottery fund was designed to do, and it's money generated from the public participating in something voluntary rather than coming out of central government.

Very little of it ends up in the pockets of athletes. Those that are full-time are mostly able to be so thanks to sponsorship, endorsements or prize money. IIRC even the Band A track and field athletes - the Jess Ennis-Hills and Mo Farahs of the world - get about £30k a year to cover living and training expenses from UK Sport. The rest of their income is what they generate commercially from their performances.

I'm sure I read recently that their performance award is reduced on a pound for pound basis once their annual income exceeds a certain figure - I think £65k was mentioned. If I've got that right, the likes of Ennis and Farah will have stopped being direct beneficiaries years ago.

Worth noting too that the paralympians receive awards on the same basis as the able-bodied athletes.

The least you would expect. Besides winning gold medals.....err....what more can these athletes do? If that's the ''least you would expect''.

Bizarre.

Good to see Murray put that pr!ck inverdale in his place

We spend huge amounts of money on sport that form part of the olympics - what is bizarre is that we seem surprised when we win loads of medals. Are we surprised that the GF is won by teams spending to the cap? or that the PL is won by teams with the biggest wage budget or that SKY win the TDF on a regular basis?

USA cycling have one FT employee GB have a whole raft of coaches, conditioners, scientists, equipment managers - based on that who would you expect to win the most medals?

doing what you need to do to win medals, seems a very odd criticism or mitigation of winning medals.

However poor US cycling may be at organising themselves is pretty much irrelevant.

Its not like we are going out and buying the best cyclists from throughout the world. We are simply investing in ours and allowing them to reach their potential.

Just back up a second. Some people may, for whatever reason be suprised we win quite a few medals. Maybe they are just happy to watch our sportmen win.

Let's get back to the point, you said winning medals was ''the least you would expect''. What else would you expect? That's what they are there to do - win medals. That's what they are doing. The investment does it's job.

Cure for cancer? Solve world hunger?

I bet you're a right laugh to be with on New Year Eve, 60 seconds to midnight...."ok people just remember all the cr@p things that happened to you this year"

Or on somebodies birthday....."well done you're now one year closer to your death"

What I wouldn't expect is the surprise from all and sundry that we are winning medals - the surprise should be that we are not winning more given the huge budget/advantage our team has on other countries.

When Wigan were in their glory days did you expect them to win the championship - if so why?

When I finish a days work I think one day nearer retirement

Unlike you who would be telling them how they should think like you because you think you have superior opinion of every single subject